A passenger on a train moving at around 61mph described hearing a “loud thud” and finding a man with a head injury that was “not survivable”, an inquest has heard.

Simon Brown, who lived in Stoke Gifford, was on the 5.05pm service from Gatwick Express to London Victoria, when the accident occurred near Balham, south London, on August 7, last year.

Mark Young of the Rail Accident Investigation told the inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court today (Wednesday, July 12) that the 24-year-old’s head was “out of the window” with “no evidence” to indicate why.

Mr Brown, who had recently moved to the Bristol area to start work as an engineering technician with Hitachi Rail Europe, suffered a fatal head injury as a result of it striking a signal gantry.

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Statements made by Mr Brown's parents, read to the court by Dr Radcliffe, described him as a “handsome, funny and charming'' man who enthused others with his passion for railways.

Ms Street said there was nothing her son did not know about trains and railways: “He was a railway man through and through. He was neither reckless nor ignorant of the dangers of that environment.”

Mr Brown was pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance staff, and the incident was treated as non-suspicious by British Transport Police.

Asked about the Rail Accident Investigation findings, Mr Young told the inquest the distance between the section of the window where Mr Brown’s head was and the signal was 26cm.

Although the clearance complied with standards for existing structures, he said it was less than an industry-recommended minimum for new structures.

Mr Young said the window was part of a door opposite a guard’s compartment and was not intended for passenger use, although it was accessible to anyone travelling on the train and was open when the train left Gatwick.

Mr Young also noted that a yellow sticker on the door warning people not to lean out of the window when the train is moving was “in a rather cluttered environment” among many other signs.

He said the report recommended that Network Rail – in collaboration with train operators – introduces a process for sharing data regarding clearances between structures and trains at window height, so operators can make “more informed decisions” about the management of risk associated with opening windows.

Colin Morris, head of safety and environment at Govia Thameslink Railway, revealed there are no longer carriages with passenger openable windows on the firm’s network trains.

He also accepted the sign warning passengers not to put their head out of the window was “small”.